The South Carolina Legislature is the group of men and women
that
work to create the
LAWS that govern our state.
All
members of
the Legislature must be chosen by the citizens of
South
Carolina to represent them and the area where they live.
These areas are called districts. Each member of the
Legislature must live in the district that they represent.
This
helps the members to get to know the people
in their district.
The South Carolina Legislature is divided into two parts called
bodies. The
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
and the SENATE together are called the General Assembly. The House of
Representatives has 124 members. The Senate has 46 members.
The General Assembly normally meets from January through June of each year. During this time, they participate
in
making new
laws, changing old laws and studying what outcome
laws will
have on the people in their districts and our state.
Each
member of the General Assembly also works on several HOUSE or SENATE COMMITTEES where the effects of
laws
are studied.
Any member of each body can make suggestions for new
laws.
These suggestions are called
BILLS. When a bill is first
presented, it is read so that every member in that body
can hear it. Then the bill is sent to a
Committee to be
studied. The committee can change the bill, accept the
bill or
reject the bill. If the bill is changed or accepted by
the
committee it is then sent to the full body who in turn
vote
whether to accept the bill as it is, change the bill or
reject
the bill. When a bill is accepted by all the members of
one
body, it is considered passed.
The passed bill must then be sent to the other body
of the
General Assembly for their review. For example, if a bill
is
passed in the House, it must be sent to the Senate for
their
review.
The bill then goes through the same process in the second
body as it did in the first body. When a bill is passed
by
both bodies it is sent to the
GOVERNOR for his signature.
When the Governor signs the bill it becomes a
LAW. The
signed bill is then called an act. All the Laws are combined to
form the South Carolina CODE OF LAWS.
To learn more about your Legislature, read THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS, a pamphlet published by the Clerk of the House of Representatives.
Note: This pamphlet is in Adobe Acrobat format (.pdf file).
If your system does not have the Acrobat Reader, you may get the reader using the link below.
The South Carolina Legislature is the group of men and women
that
work to create the
The passed bill must then be sent to the other body
of the
General Assembly for their review. For example, if a bill
is
passed in the House, it must be sent to the Senate for
their
review.